


Their First Thanksgiving

by waterbird13



Category: Leverage
Genre: Leverage OT3, Multi, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-28 23:17:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3873604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterbird13/pseuds/waterbird13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot doesn't believe in gimmicky holidays. Alec, as it turns out, is a fan of Thanksgiving, and Eliot is going to do his best to make it work. Parker wants her cereal, and also maybe an explanation as to why there's a day set aside to remind them to be thankful for things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Their First Thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Yes, I know I'm nearly six months off on posting this. I actually always meant to post it here, on AO3, but apparently didn't and just found it on Tumblr. It's getting moved in a migration of my stuff.  
> Really no warnings except for fluffiness, food, and Thanksgiving, here.  
> Hope you enjoy!

            Eliot hasn’t celebrated Thanksgiving in a dozen years or more—there was one year, in a military base most people don’t know exists, where they ate cold turkey lunchmeat and played poker for cigarettes, but he’s not sure if that counts. He wasn’t planning on celebrating this year, either, but the turkey in the fridge is a sharp rebuke to that effect.

            Eliot hasn’t actually ever seen Alec purchase food that’s not of the hot pocket, gummi frog, orange soda, takeout menu variety, so he’s a little impressed he managed to do so well on this. Then again, Eliot muses, there are probably guides to buying a turkey on the internet.

            It makes sense, that Alec would be into this. Eliot had mentally categorized all three of them into the category of people not enthusiastic about gimmicky national holidays, with the single exception of Parker’s over-the-top love for Christmas. Eliot hasn’t _really_ celebrated Thanksgiving since he left home, and he doubts if Parker ever has.

            But Alec probably had. He remembers Alec talking about Nana shopping at Value More to make her few dollars stretch a little further to feed all those little mouths, and he thinks she was the type of woman to put a Thanksgiving meal on the table for her kids, no matter how far she had to make things stretch for it. Alec probably has fond memories of Thanksgiving, in his way.

            Eliot doesn’t say much, just announces that the turkey will take four hours to cook, and that dinner will be at noon. Alec just nods, smiling his small grateful little smile. Parker mostly looks confused.

            Alec is the one who explains the holiday to Parker, and being thankful for things is something she seems to objectively get, but she doesn’t seem to know why she needs a holiday for it. She perks up when Alec explains all the food that comes with the day.

            Eliot already has his own roster of sides he’d like to prepare, but at that point both Alec and Parker start to contribute their own ideas. Eliot turns down donuts and Lucky Charms—Parker’s suggestions—and makes a mental note to add a green bean casserole to his list.

            The brew pub closes Wednesday night and the three of them send the staff home, wishing them a happy holiday. They could probably make some good money if they stayed open Thanksgiving Day, but they want to be home and their employees want to be home and it’s not like Alec needs the money, anyways.

            They fall asleep that night after watching movies for several hours. Eliot wakes up at four, Alec’s head on his chest and Parker’s legs thrown over his own. After a few minutes of just appreciating it all, he carefully works his way out from under them.

            He works out and showers and cleans the place. He makes two pies—Alec and Parker can never agree on apple versus pumpkin—and bakes them, setting them aside to cool by the time Parker makes it out of the bedroom, wearing Eliot’s shirt.

            He finishes prepping the turkey and starts cooking it, and that’s about when Alec comes out. He steals a handful of the sugary cereal Parker is eating from the box and then hugs Eliot from behind. He thinks Alec’s lips are brushing crumbs against his hair, but he can’t bring himself to mind so much, not when the kitchen is full of good smells and he’s being held and he’s surrounded by his family.

            Alec introduces Parker to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Both of them try to explain why riding one of those giant balloons would be a terrible idea, but Parker is convinced they could support her weight and won’t be dissuaded, and Eliot has a sinking feeling that they’ll be watching the parade for a whole different reason next year.

            He keeps cooking and has to continuously stop Alec and Parker from stealing his food. He has a feeling that Parker is getting a good deal that he doesn’t even see her taking, but at least he stopped Alec from digging his finger into the pie.

            He gets the food on the table and the turkey out of the oven. Parker wants to carve it, and Eliot lets her, too busy with the rest of the dishes to care. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best idea, but she gets meat onto a plate and, as Alec says, only looks vaguely homicidal with the knife, so it’s an overall success.

            There’s squash and green bean casserole, fresh rolls, cranberry sauce and apple stuffing. There’s a pile of mashed potatoes practically overflowing the bowl, and macaroni and cheese, and a full bowl of gravy. There’s even a bowl of sugary cereal that Eliot set out at the last moment.

            It’s way too much food for three, but Eliot figures they’ll eat it for a week, or share with the employees, or something. Food has a way of disappearing around here.

            He reaches for the turkey but Alec gives a minute shake of his head. Eliot backs off, understanding, because while Nana probably did her level best to give those kids a feast, the real Thanksgiving for them was probably the actual thanks giving. From what he knows about Nana, that seems about right.

            Parker is reaching for the cereal with one hand and the potatoes with the other, and Eliot stops her with a gentle hand to her wrist. He reminds her that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks as much as it is about the food, and that’s what they’ll start with.

            She shrugs and withdraws her hand, full of cereal.  She then informs them she’s thankful for them, and it’s only somewhat marred by her mouthful of cereal.

            Alec and then Eliot echo the sentiment, and while Parker takes that as an excuse to load her plate and even Alec starts getting food, Eliot just looks at them both for a few minutes, taking in the sight of his crazy brilliant loveable thief and hacker eating his food, in their apartment, above their restaurant, all three of them safe and whole and healthy and here.

            He reaches for the turkey once more and starts serving it out. Parker and Alec moan and close their eyes in bliss, paying their compliments to his food, and he can’t keep the smile off his face.

            Not bad, for their first Thanksgiving together.


End file.
